The surging cost of living is having a devastating impact for people on income support, according to this report by ACOSS. Researchers surveyed 365 people living on JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment over February and March 2023, finding income support payments are completely inadequate.

The findings in this study have highlighted that the out-of-home care study population are in need of income support for longer or are repeatedly moving in and out of income support into their late 20’s, suggesting they are at increased risk of not being able...

This report provides evidence that the rising cost of living is deepening financial, housing and food insecurity, and impacting mental and physical health, while also increasing social isolation.

The findings of this report highlight the urgent need to increase base rates of income support to at least $70 a day to ensure that people on the lowest incomes are not left behind. ACOSS urges the federal government to lift incomes in the October...

This paper summarises the major changes made to unemployment, student and parenting transfer payments over 2020 and early 2021 in Australia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This report is the third in the ACOSS and UNSW Sydney Poverty and Inequality Partnership’s COVID-19 'Build Back Fairer Series'. It tells a tale of the differing impacts of the pandemic for different groups using evidence on income inequality and poverty in Australia.

This report assesses the health equity implications of federal, state and territory government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic across housing, employment and income support.

This document provides a comparison of the Australian and New Zealand family tax credits.

This research sought to hear directly from consumers at Uniting Vic.Tas emergency relief and homelessness entry points about the impact of the withdrawal of COVID-19 payments and benefits on them and their families and children. The findings of this report supports numerous other studies in...

This report is the second in the ACOSS and UNSW 'Build Back Fairer' Series. The report analyses the changes to key income support payments from 2000 to 2021. It provides a comparison of the changes to income support highlighting who has been left behind. Its...

This report presents the Australian Treasury's analysis on the first six months of the JobKeeper Payment (to 27 September 2020), reflecting on the design and initial impacts of JobKeeper as a key element of the federal government’s macroeconomic response to COVID-19.

This paper proposes six principles — universality, sufficiency, fairness, security, flexibility and efficiency — to guide the development of legislative and policy reforms for Canada’s income-support programs and job-protection laws for sickness and caregiving leave entitlements.

This report analyses a range of interactive maps, prepared to provide the first geographic snapshot of people on income support payments who also received COVID-specific income support payments across the country in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, the 'Alpha' wave.

Reliable national data on outcomes and broader service use of young people who have been in out-of-home care as they transition out of care and into independence is currently lacking. This national report aims to build the evidence-base on transition outcomes by bringing together Australian...

Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed that a $50 fortnightly increase to the unemployment benefit would take the payment, when expressed as a proportion of the minimum wage, back to where it sat during the period of the Howard Government. He said this would bring the...

Working for Families (WFF) is the primary income support mechanism for children in New Zealand. In this paper, the authors make recommendations for the anticipated WFF government reform.

This report examines employment and other outcomes for people in the 12 months after they stopped receiving social welfare income support.

The Coalition Government has reassured Australians that the nation is well placed to emerge strongly from the coronavirus crisis in large part because of its handling of the economy in the years leading up to the pandemic. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg recently pointed to the Government's...

This paper focuses on income support and its impact on work incentives for persons with disability. More specifically, it looks at key issues and policy choices that arise when designing such income support programmes.

In response to the sharp fall in economic activity in the early months of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Australian government announced a series of measures to support incomes and employment. The largest was the JobKeeper payment - a wage subsidy to help keep employees and...

The present paper addresses the question of how to estimate a social welfare function defined over inflation and unemployment that can help inform the policy decisions of central banks by providing a way to measure the well-being costs arising from macroeconomic fluctuations.

The paper examines possible eligibility requirements of a Liveable Income Guarantee (LIG), suggestions of additional payments to complement the payment, as well as an outline of budgetary costs and how financing could work.

This paper reviews the dual system of housing support in Australia available to young people exiting the Specialist Homelessness Service (SHS) system.

This review was informed by Treasury’s regular engagement with the business community and general public on JobKeeper policy and program implementation, the departments and agencies across government that are involved in aspects of JobKeeper service delivery, academic experts and officials in other national ministries.

The Victorian Government is supporting multicultural and multifaith families to ensure they stay connected to their communities amid the coronavirus pandemic. Initiative: Income support for multicultural Victorians